- Syllables per pāda
- 12
- Kind
- Samavṛtta — all four pādas alike
- Gaṇas
- ja ta ja ra
Four pādas of 12 syllables; all four are built alike.
Pattern
1⏑–⏑––⏑⏑–⏑–⏑–
2⏑–⏑––⏑⏑–⏑–⏑–
3⏑–⏑––⏑⏑–⏑–⏑–
4⏑–⏑––⏑⏑–⏑–⏑–
How to read the marks
- ⏑Laghu — a light syllableOne beat. Said short and lightly.
- –Guru — a heavy syllableTwo beats: held exactly twice as long as a light one. In the line it also carries a faint tint.
- Pāda boundaryA stanza falls into four quarters — pādas. The boundary is a short stop, as at the end of a line.
- Yati — caesuraWhere the breath falls inside a long pāda. A shorter, fainter rule.
Example
नमन्ति यत्पादनिकेतम् आत्मनः शिवाय हानीय धनानि शत्रवः
कथं स वीरः श्रियम् अङ्ग दुस्त्यजां युवैषतोत्स्रष्टुम् अहो सहासुभिः
namanti yatpādaniketam ātmanaḥ śivāya hānīya dhanāni śatravaḥ
kathaṃ sa vīraḥ śriyam aṅga dustyajāṃ yuvaiṣatotsraṣṭum aho sahāsubhiḥ
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.4.11Open the verse